Xbit talks Apple

[MrMilli]

http://www.xbitlabs.com/news/other/d...r_Gadgets.html

I tend to agree with the article and also the first post in the comments.

[FordGT90Concept]

I too agree. Apple is big on bark and small on bite. The numbers confirm that and luckily, most buyers are aware.

[Mussels]

what a good read. i 3% market share eh, i'll keep that in mind.

[Frick]

I just love the Internets:

Apple actually SOLD 3,33% of all the computers available on the market. But... most of them work for years, while PCs last about a month, then they have to be replaced.

(look at my system specs)

Seriously though, it's interesting with some other views, and I do agree that Apple get too much attention. I wouldn't say it's a cult or anything though, they're just popular.

[Mussels]

its funny because you can tell who the people are in those comments, that fell for mac propaganda.

The same guy who says PC's dont last and need replacing, would also beleive macs are made from superior apple hardware. not intel/foxconn/ATI, of course not.

[FordGT90Concept]

I got PCs that are over a decade old that still work fine--slow, but fine. XD


"Replaced" doesn't necessarily mean it isn't working anymore. It usually means the user demands have changed so a faster computer was purchased to supersede it. Makes sense PC users do this more than Mac users because of the price and sheer amount of software that is constantly being released for PCs.

[Mussels]

yeah good point - mac users dont upgrade as much cause they cant bloody afford it, with their prices

[Steevo]

Wow, they amount of brainwashed apple users.....its astounding.



I used a mac in school for photoshop and for other things, it was good, but I like games, and media editing, and the ability to change my hardware, and upgrade hardware, and not to pay through the nose......

[entropy13]

My recent experiences with Macs aren't exactly good. I can't plug in the projector, and I actually find it very confusing. There's a different port for USB too, needing an adapter. I never really cared what model of Macbook I was forced to use (it wasn't mine) but if that was the high-end, or their mainstream type, then it's just full of fail.

[LAN_deRf_HA]

Anyone remember what happened to those class action lawsuits about apple batteries being designed to fail after 6 months? Kind of evil-brilliant on there part. I don't know anyone that uses their apple warranty, they just buy a new ipod ever 6 months, or shell out $100 to get it fixed.

[Error 404]

I like this article, it really shows the truth in facts and figures.
I had to use iMacs for my Art class, photoshopping stuff, and it was a pain. The mouse was horrible, and even when I brought my own mouse the iMac still had crappy response. OS X is actually quite user unfriendly to me, a Windows user. Linux does a better job of being usable compared to OS X!! Sure, the screen quality and keyboard are good, but my school wasted $2100 on each iMac when they could have bought something far more powerful (the imacs had 2.4 GHz dual core, 1 GB of RAM, and a 2400 Pro; hardly photoshopping material).

The Mac Elitism is annoying. Its funny to see them struggle with a PC...

[Dippyskoodlez]

Originally Posted by entropy13

My recent experiences with Macs aren't exactly good. I can't plug in the projector, and I actually find it very confusing. There's a different port for USB too, needing an adapter.

DIfferent port for USB?

What? Last I checked all mac USB ports, and firewire ports... were standard?

And I can plug in a projector just fine.. infact I did all the time at school. Plugging in a projector is easier than in windows. It automatically detects resolution and activates the second display for you. Whereas windows you have to set it up.

PEBKAC?

Originally Posted by Error 404

The Mac Elitism is annoying. Its funny to see them struggle with a PC...

Every thread someone posts about their inability to use a mac.... because it's "too different"..

This article is meant against apple and is nothing but propaganda by someone upset about seeing iPhone news.

Still, 8.2% market share means that 91.8% of end-users around the globe preferred non-Apple mobile phones.

He "assumes" 91% of users *preferred* non apple phones. I know many people that don't have an iPhone, but would certainly *prefer* an iphone.

Consumers product preference CANNOT be analyzed via Market share, because most people are tied in to certain carriers for contracted lengths of time.

Ferrari or Porsche certainly don't have 90% of the market.

But damn I would love to have one.

This was a well written comment:

When you look at OSX's market share, it does indeed compare badly overall to all versions of Windows. If, however you look at unit hardware sales, Apple is in the top four or five computer sellers. Dell is getting killed in the profitability battle due to the fact they can't charge a decent price for their junk.

Apple sells at a higher profit margin per unit, so their profitability far exceeds that of other computer manufacturers. Apple owns the high end of the market, particularly where laptops are concerned.

When you compare smartphones, the iPhone is eating the marketplace. If you compare it to ALL cell phones it doesn't fare so well, but that will change when the iPhone is sold in China.
Mobile web browsing is done on iPhones. All others are just about statistically insignificant. Again, Apple's profit margin blows the competition in the weeds.

In case you missed class that day, the purpose of a business is to make money. Apple is winning. They have thirty billion United States dollars in the bank; they have zero debt. Check those parameters for Apple's "competitors." The data is easily available on Yahoo! Finance.

[TheMailMan78]

Originally Posted by Dippyskoodlez

Different port for USB?

What? Last I checked all mac USB ports, and firewire ports... were standard?

And I can plug in a projector just fine.. in fact I did all the time at school. Plugging in a projector is easier than in windows. It automatically detects resolution and activates the second display for you. Whereas windows you have to set it up.:

Dippys is right. Apple uses the same ports as anyone. I'm not sure what you were trying to connect that needed an adapter but a PC would need it to. They are both standardized. As for setting it up in Windows I don't mind. A: I know it will work. B: On a mac it MIGHT work. I don't know how many times I've gone to plug in something only to find out its not OSX compatible.

Originally Posted by Dippyskoodlez

This article is meant against apple and is nothing but propaganda by someone upset about seeing iPhone news.

Not so sure about that man. I've been a Apple user for over 20 years. Well before they were popular. Hell even before the clones. Then I saw the light and articles like this one made alot more sense.

Originally Posted by Dippyskoodlez

He "assumes" 91% of users *preferred* non apple phones. I know many people that don't have an iPhone, but would certainly *prefer* an iphone.

Consumers product preference CANNOT be analyzed via Market share, because most people are tied in to certain carriers for contracted lengths of time.

Ferrari or Porsche certainly don't have 90% of the market.

But damn I would love to have one.

Apples to oranges my friend. Not many people can afford a 100,000 dollar car. However a lot of people can afford a 300 buck iphone. Most people chose not to. The same goes with their home computers and everything else they make. The media controls this country my friend. One thing Apple has better than anyone else is a PR machine. They could have got Bush re-elected for a third term.

[Dippyskoodlez]

Originally Posted by TheMailMan78

Apples to oranges my friend. Not many people can afford a 100,000 dollar car. However a lot of people can afford a 300 buck iphone. Most people chose not to. The same goes with their home computers and everything else they make. The media controls this country my friend. One thing Apple has better than anyone else is a PR machine. They could have got Bush re-elected for a third term.

The only way it's different is the actual price tag.

Most people view cell phones as disposable. They get the Free one, because they know they're gonna treat it like shit, and break it in a few months anyways. They get it replaced for free.

$300 phone is a Porsche compared to the majority of the cell phone market where people get "free" phones. The analogy is 100% accurate.

If I had a porsche, I'd hate to have someone wreck it. I would hate for someone to throw my iPhone across a parking lot, too. If I had a "free" phone, I would probably throw it across a parking lot and not really care much.

I know my brother, and the rest of my family uses the "free" or "cheap" phones, because they don't want to worry about breaking them, and/or don't/can't pay for a $300 Phone.

Luxury market is luxury market. Same for PC components. People buy EXTREME EDITION cpu's. Most people don't.

[farlex85]

Originally Posted by Dippyskoodlez

The only way it's different is the actual price tag.

Most people view cell phones as disposable. They get the Free one, because they know they're gonna treat it like shit, and break it in a few months anyways. They get it replaced for free.

$300 phone is a Porsche compared to the majority of the cell phone market where people get "free" phones. The analogy is 100% accurate.

If I had a porsche, I'd hate to have someone wreck it. I would hate for someone to throw my iPhone across a parking lot, too. If I had a "free" phone, I would probably throw it across a parking lot and not really care much.

I know my brother, and the rest of my family uses the "free" or "cheap" phones, because they don't want to worry about breaking them, and/or don't/can't pay for a $300 Phone.

Luxury market is luxury market. Same for PC components. People buy EXTREME EDITION cpu's. Most people don't.

Is luxury always better? This is something the article brings up. Why would you want a Ferrarri I ask? For the use? Where are you going to be utilizing it? When are you gonna punch that 500hp engine into full gear? No chances are a big reason you bought it is the status, the trendiness, the hip factor. Does it get you from point A to point B any better than an Accord? No, in fact perhaps a bit worse (due to higher maintenance required), but it gets you there in style. For me (and most), this equates to in fact worse, silly, a purchase that I wouldn't make if I had the money to burn (not that I do, or many do).

Apple is the same way. Sure they are a bit more stylish, sure some like to think of them as "luxury" computers (that's really a bit silly though), but just as I wouldn't pay for an extreme proc that has the same performance as one that costs much less I'm not gonna buy a computer that does less for more.

It isn't about being better, it's about being perceived as better. Status is everything in today's market, but Mac is losing out bigtime on the market they could attain by so forcefully insisting they are "better" when in fact they are just different (better in some cases, worse in others). I related this in the other thread.....

[Dippyskoodlez]

Originally Posted by farlex85

It isn't about being better, it's about being perceived as better. Status is everything in today's market, but Mac is losing out bigtime on the market they could attain by so forcefully insisting they are "better" when in fact they are just different (better in some cases, worse in others). I related this in the other thread.....

Why go after other markets?

Artists make music, because it's something they love to do.

Usually artists that "sellout" to what's gonna hit the radio, are frowned upon.

Apple is a Business. They make money. They aren't there to take over the world like Microsoft is, they just make their product.

Why have 3000000 products in 300000 markets, when 3 or 4 markets, with quality products makes you money anyways?

The definition of "better" is also a matter of opinion. Is my house better than yours? Maybe you don't like fireplaces, but I do.

This article takes market share facts and applies them in a biased manner of a company that is intending to grow like a disease and spread everywhere. The fact that the US market share is vastly different from the worldwide sales... is exactly what he ignored. the AUTHORS priorities are NOT Apple's priorities.

Damn, I think he's a genuis for being able to point that out. Clearly every business needs to make a product for every market possible.

NEXT UP: APPLE TOOTHPASTE! Apple trying to take over your household starting with your hygeine products!

[farlex85]

Originally Posted by Dippyskoodlez

Why go after other markets?

Artists make music, because it's something they love to do.

Usually artists that "sellout" to what's gonna hit the radio, are frowned upon.

Apple is a Business. They make money. They aren't there to take over the world like Microsoft is, they just make their product.

Why have 3000000 products in 300000 markets, when 3 or 4 markets, with quality products makes you money anyways?

The definition of "better" is also a matter of opinion. Is my house better than yours? Maybe you don't like fireplaces, but I do.

TBQH Apple has no "control" over the media. The media does this themselves. They don't run around doing TWKR demo's like AMD does to stir up talk. They announce products when products are ready.

Most of the hate is fueled by people that are curious about whats coming next from apple. The people that care care.

Is it that hard to ignore a product you don't like?

B/c it would lead to them being a more successful business and earn greater profit. For us b/c it would encourage greater competition in a fairly dominated OS market (although actual computer competition is perhaps a bit too competitive). Apple is missing out on two of the biggest markets in the industry: the average user and the enthusiast. This is why their particular omissions are so mal-productive.

It's true "better" is a subjective matter, but generally the public is of the notion more expensive=better. This isn't by any means apple's fault, but they exploit this to it's fullest.

Although they don't have direct control over media attention, they certainly attempt to garner it. With every new product they have huge press conferences on the web, and they are pretty aggressive with their marketing. But it's true most of the hype is consumer driven, hence the "cultish" following the article relates.

[Dippyskoodlez]

Originally Posted by farlex85

B/c it would lead to them being a more successful business and earn greater profit. For us b/c it would encourage greater competition in a fairly dominated OS market (although actual computer competition is perhaps a bit too competitive). Apple is missing out on two of the biggest markets in the industry: the average user and the enthusiast.

Certainly GM venturing into every market feasable has earned them GREATER PROFITS.
Xbox360 hardware is VERY PROFITABLE.



I have a hard time believeing Apple sticking their fingers into every market possible would make them "more successful". Apple's whole business strategy is Quality over Quantity. This is 100% counterproductive.

Blizzard games are quite successful, no? They don't make every genre of game possible, which is how EA's reputation has gone to the shitter.

Notice a trend?

With every new product they have huge press conferences on the web, and they are pretty aggressive with their marketing. But it's true most of the hype is consumer driven.

by "Huge press conferences", you mean a developer conference right? WWDC....

And so what? They OCASIONALLY have a conference. What company doesn't? Microsoft? Intel? AMD?

Last I checked, this was quite common. Even the white house has press conferences!

Blast, they must all be evil for announcing new products, when people interested decide to listen! EVIL I SAY!

[farlex85]

Originally Posted by Dippyskoodlez

Certainly GM venturing into every market feasable has earned them GREATER PROFITS.
Xbox360 hardware is VERY PROFITABLE.



I have a hard time believeing Apple sticking their fingers into every market possible would make them "more successful". Apple's whole business strategy is Quality over Quantity. This is 100% counterproductive.

Blizzard games are quite successful, no? They don't make every genre of game possible, which is how EA's reputation has gone to the shitter.

Notice a trend?



by "Huge press conferences", you mean a developer conference right? WWDC....

And so what? They OCASIONALLY have a conference. What company doesn't? Microsoft? Intel? AMD?

Last I checked, this was quite common. Even the white house has press conferences!

Blast, they must all be evil for announcing new products, when people interested decide to listen! EVIL I SAY!

My you certainly are dramatic. Notice I never said all markets. IMO they simply need address the average user and enthusiast to be a very successful company. They don't necessarily need to drop bargain basement laptops to accomplish this.

BTW just picking a couple examples of a company or two to prove your point, well, doesn't really prove your point. MS (who happens to be in the same business as Apple) happens to be very successful appealing to different markets. As is Dell, Hp, ect........ If you wanna just bring in any random company off the top of your head it doesn't work so well.

I didn't say holding a press conference was a bad thing, I simply counter-pointed you saying mac had no control over the attention given to them.

[a_ump]

can't the iphone also only be obtained through AT&T? so contract price is also something to consider as, at least where i live, AT&T is much more expensive than say U.S cellular, ntelos, or sprint.

Someone mentioned that Apple own the high end market of laptops, may i ask how? maybe the high price market with poorer performance than a PC laptop of matching price. is htere a GTX 280m for mac? is there GTX 280m SLI for mac? no so high end....definitely not. Now i will say they are definitely masters at marketing, if they weren't they'd have gone out of business long ago imo. If the general populous were tech savy to the point of at least knowing what CPU's, GPU's, and memory were, i believe very very few macbooks would be sold. It's the marketing that sells Mac books, not their performance, and certainly not the OS's flexibility. I'm not saying mac books have poor performance, cause my bro has one and its a fine computer, but for the price he paid(~$3000) he could have gotten a PC lappy that in comparison, would blow the mac all the way to pluto.

[Dippyskoodlez]

Originally Posted by a_ump

Someone mentioned that Apple own the high end market of laptops, may i ask how? maybe the high price market with poorer performance than a PC laptop of matching price. is htere a GTX 280m for mac? is there GTX 280m SLI for mac? no so high end....definitely not

"High end market" is NOT the enthusiast market.

"High end market" consists of developers, Audio/Video techs, Photoshop users/Photographers. Usually markets where expensive hardware is not uncommon. ($300 lenses ftw?)

NOT gamers. Gamers just use "high end parts" to game, because of the performance attributed.

[farlex85]

Originally Posted by Dippyskoodlez

"High end market" is NOT the enthusiast market.

"High end market" consists of developers, Audio/Video techs, Photoshop users/Photographers.

NOT gamers. Gamers just use "high end parts" to game, because of the performance attributed.

High end market simply means it costs a lot. Gaming machines tend to cost a lot. Hence yes gamers can be in the high end market.

[Dippyskoodlez]

Originally Posted by farlex85

High end market simply means it costs a lot. Gaming machines tend to cost a lot. Hence yes gamers can be in the high end market.

Can be in the high end market, yes.

90% of the market however, is not gamers. Nor do they give a rats ass about games.

"A lot" is how much?

My $700(+$250) lens camera says my desktop was cheap as shit.

[farlex85]

Originally Posted by Dippyskoodlez

Can be in the high end market, yes.

90% of the market however, is not gamers.

That is a complete assumption on your part based on no actual facts whatsoever. I myself would estimate a larger share of gamers in this category. A much larger share.

Originally Posted by Dippyskoodlez

"A lot" is how much?

My $700(+$250) lens camera says my desktop was cheap as shit.

A lot is more than other products in the same market.

[Dippyskoodlez]

Originally Posted by farlex85

That is a complete assumption on your part based on no actual facts whatsoever. I myself would estimate a larger share of gamers in this category. A much larger share.

http://news.cnet.co.uk/desktops/0,39...9297011,00.htm

http://www.betanews.com/article/NPD-...ket/1211311089